Swiss Islamic council moves annual conf. to Istanbul due to Islamophobia

GENEVA, April 28 (KUNA) - The Islamic Shura Council in Switzerland has expressed regret and worry over the rise of Islamophobia in the country, taking the form of a fierce media campaign against it after it announced its annual conference themed "Islam is peace." The conference will not be cancelled but instead will be held Istanbul, Turkey, May 6-8, because of Islamophobia that has poisoned the social atmosphere in the country, chairman Abdullah Nicolas Blancho told a press conference in Zurich, northeast, Friday.
Suspicions are rising on the presence of a social will that can secure the application of the provisions of the Swiss Constitution that guarantee the basic rights of all people, irrespective of faith or ethnicity, Blancho, a Swiss who converted to Islam, added.
He referred to worrying signals that the society might restrict such basic rights when the matter is related to Islam and Muslims, amid a severe fall in the rate of toleration with both.
Overnight, Islam's conservative values have turned into threats to domestic security, a matter that will gradually lead to anti-Muslim decisions that violate their rights in free expression and organizing events and gatherings, he said.
However, the trend has been rejected by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.
The present atmosphere does not allow Muslims to talk freely, amid several charges by the media against some Muslim preachers from around the world, urging the Swiss authorities not to let them in.
Thus, the annual conference has been moved to Istanbul, Blancho said.
He noted that the sessions and discussions of the conference will be transmitted through the social media, as council believes that ideas and principles are much more stronger than intransigence and intolerance. (end) ta.asm.msa